1.
France women's national football team
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The French womens national football team represents France in international womens football. In 2011, France recorded a finish at the 2011 FIFA Womens World Cup. In the following year, the club captured the 2012 Cyprus Cup, the current manager of the national team is Olivier Echouafni. He replaced Philippe Bergeroo on September 9,2016, the current captain of the national team is 26-year-old centre back Wendie Renard. In 1919, a football championship was established in France by the Fédération des Sociétés Féminines Sportives de France. On 29 April 1920, a team led by French womens football pioneer Alice Milliat traveled to England and played its first international match against English team Dick, the match, held in Preston, attracted more than 25,000 spectators. France won the match 2–0 and ended its tour with two wins, one draw, and one defeat, the following year, a return match in France at the Stade Pershing in Vincennes, a suburb of Paris, took place in front of over 12,000 spectators. The match ended in a 1–1 draw, in May 1921, France returned to England for friendlies. The team won its first match 5–1, then suffered three consecutive defeats, in October 1921, the English team returned to France contesting matches in Paris and Le Havre with both matches ending in stalemates. Despite womens football in England being prohibited by The Football Association in December 1921, a victory for the French in Plymouth was followed by 0–0 draws in Exeter and Falmouth. By 1932, the game had been called to an end. The last match by the FSFSF international team was another draw against Belgium on 3 April 1932. Throughout the late 1960s in France, particularly in Reims, local players worked hard to promote awareness, a year before getting officially sanctioned, France took part in a makeshift European Cup against England, Denmark, and Italy. The tournament was won by the Italians and that same year, France took part in the unofficial 1971 Womens World Cup, held in Mexico. The ladies continued the games, which just made it into the margins of FIFAs records. Since 1982, UEFA has governed the European games, in 1975, the womens football league was officially reinstated, this time with backing from the French Football Federation, the governing body of football in France. Stade Reims was the best team in the country throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, for the non-official World Cup in 1978 in Taiwan, the team included the entire Reims squad. The team shared the title with Finland, who never played the final
2.
French Football Federation
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The French Football Federation is the governing body of association football in France, as well as the overseas departments and the overseas collectivities and also in Monaco. It was formed in 1919 and is based in the capital, the FFF was a founding member of FIFA and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the game of football in France, both professional and amateur. The French Football Federation is a member of UEFA and joined FIFA in 1907 after replacing the USFSA. The Fédération Française de Football was formed on 7 April 1919 following the transformation of the Comité Français Interfédéral into the Fédération Française de Football Association, the USFSA later developed friction with FIFA and the IOC, which led to disorganization and in 1913, became semi-affiliated with the CFI. On 7 April 1919, the CFI transformed themselves into the Fédération Française de Football with Jules Rimet being installed as the federations first president and its legal status is placed under the French Association loi de 1901 jurisdiction. The FFF has been affiliated to FIFA since 1907, when the CFI succeeded the USFSA as Frances representative, two years later after the CFIs transformation, the USFSA officially merged with the federation. On 28 June 2010, the current president, Jean-Pierre Escalettes. On 23 July, Fernand Duchaussoy was installed as the interim president and, on 18 December. On 18 June 2011, following as election, Nöel Le Graët was named as the federations 12th president, to defend the moral and material interests of French football. To maintain all appropriate relations with foreign associations affiliated with FIFA, as well as their sporting organizations, the LFP, however, still operate under the authority of the federation. The federation is responsible for appointing the management of the mens, womens. In 2010, the FFF had 2,107,924 licenses, the federation unveiled its new crest in 2007. The French Football Federation runs numerous competitions, the most famous of which is the annual Coupe de France, the Coupe de France is managed under the authority of the Federal Commission of the Coupe de France, which is directly attached to the Federal Council of the FFF. The federation also governs youth leagues, such as the Championnat National of the under-19s, the FFF also oversee the organization of the Coupe Gambardella and the Coupe Nationale for the under-15 and under-13 club teams. The federation organizes all three divisions of football in France and oversee the Challenge de France, the womens premier cup competition. Located 50 km southwest of Paris in Clairefontaine-en-Yvelines, Clairefontaine is arguably the finest football academy in the world and it has a high reputation of producing some of the most gifted French players including Nicolas Anelka, Louis Saha, William Gallas and national team top scorer Thierry Henry. Registration for new players at an academy begins in October the year before players enroll at the academy when prospective applicants are 12 years of age. Players have until December to register with their club for acceptance into the academy, the first set of trials are carried out by each district within its respective region
3.
UEFA
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The Union of European Football Associations is the administrative body for association football in Europe, although several member states are primarily or entirely located in Asia. It is one of six continental confederations of world footballs governing body FIFA, UEFA consists of 55 national association members. Until 1959 the main headquarters were located in Paris, and later in Bern, in 1995, UEFA headquarters were transferred to Nyon, Switzerland. Henri Delaunay was the first general secretary and Ebbe Schwartz the first president, UEFA was founded on 15 June 1954 in Basel, Switzerland after consultation between the Italian, French, and Belgian associations. The European football union began with 25 members, that number doubled by the early 1990s, UEFA membership coincides for the most part with recognition as a sovereign country in Europe, although there are some exceptions. Some UEFA members are not sovereign states, but form part of a recognized sovereign state in the context of international law. Some UEFA members are transcontinental states, countries which had been members of the Asian Football Confederation were also admitted to the European football association, particularly Israel and Kazakhstan. Additionally some UEFA member associations allow teams from outside their associations main territory to take part in their domestic competition, saarland Football Union 1954–1956 German football association of the German Democratic Republic 1954–1990 Football Federation of the Soviet Union 1954–1991, in 1992 became Russian Football Union. The newly independent 14 Soviet Republics created their own football associations, Football Association of Yugoslavia 1954–1992, became Football Association of Serbia and Montenegro. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Slovenia became independent, Football Association of Serbia and Montenegro 1992–2006, became Football Association of Serbia. Montenegro, which became independent, created its own football association, the main competition for mens national teams is the UEFA European Football Championship, started in 1958, with the first finals in 1960, and known as the European Nations Cup until 1964. It is also called UEFA or the EURO, UEFA also runs national competitions at Under-21, Under-19 and Under-17 levels. For womens national teams, UEFA operates the UEFA Womens Championship for senior sides as well as Womens Under-19. UEFA also organized the UEFA-CAF Meridian Cup with CAF for youth teams in an effort to boost youth football, UEFA launched the UEFA Regions Cup, for semi-professional teams representing their local region, in 1999. In futsal there is the UEFA Futsal Championship and UEFA Futsal Under-21 Championship, the Italian, German, Spanish and French mens national teams are the sole teams to have won the European football championship in all categories. A second, lower-ranked competition is the UEFA Europa League and this competition, for national knockout cup winners and high-placed league teams, was launched by UEFA in 1971 as a successor of both the former UEFA Cup and the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. A third competition, the UEFA Cup Winners Cup, which had started in 1960, was absorbed into the UEFA Cup in 1999, in womens football UEFA also conducts the UEFA Womens Champions League for club teams. The competition was first held in 2001, and known as the UEFA Womens Cup until 2009, the UEFA Super Cup pits the winners of the Champions League against the winners of the Europa League, and came into being in 1973
4.
Didier Deschamps
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Didier Claude Deschamps is a retired French footballer and current manager of the France national football team. He played as a midfielder for several clubs, in France, Italy, England. With Juventus he played three Champions League finals in a row between 1996 and 1998, winning the title in 1996, with the Turin side, he also won the UEFA Super Cup and the Intercontinental Cup, as well as three Serie A titles, among other trophies. With Chelsea, he won the 1999–2000 FA Cup, and also reached another Champions League final with Valencia in 2001, before retiring later that season. On 8 July 2012, Deschamps was named as the new manager of the French national team, leading the team to the quarter-finals of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the final of UEFA Euro 2016. After a short passage at rugby in the Biarritz Olympique club, Deschamps started his career at an amateur club. His potential was spotted by scouts from Nantes, for whom he signed in April 1983, Deschamps made his league debut on 27 September 1985. He transferred to Marseille in 1989, Deschamps then spent a season on loan with Bordeaux in 1990, before returning to Marseille. After his spell with Juventus, Deschamps spent a season in England with Chelsea, winning the FA Cup, and scoring once against Hertha Berlin in the Champions League. He finished his career in Spain, spending a season with Valencia, helping them to the 2001 UEFA Champions League Final. He then retired in the middle of 2001, only 32 years old, when new team coach Aimé Jacquet began to rebuild the team for Euro 96, he initially selected Manchester United star Eric Cantona as captain. Deschamps, as one of the few remaining veterans, was chosen to lead what would be later be called the Golden Generation and he first captained France in 1996 in a friendly match against Germany as a warmup for Euro 96. During that tournament, held in England, he led all the way to the semi-finals. In 1998, Deschamps captained France as they won the 1998 World Cup on home soil in Paris and his final appearance was against England. At the time of his retirement Deschamps held the record for the most appearances for France, though this has since surpassed by Marcel Desailly, Zinedine Zidane. In total, Deschamps earned 103 caps and scored four goals, Deschamps was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004. Deschampss ability to perform this role was made due to his high work-rate, tenacity, stamina, reliable distribution. He also had an excellent positional and organisational sense, and was known for his intelligence, versatility
5.
Captain (association football)
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The team captain is usually identified by the wearing of an armband. The only official responsibility of a captain specified by the Laws of the Game is to participate in the toss prior to kick-off. Contrary to what is said, captains have no special authority under the Laws to challenge a decision by the referee. However, referees may talk to the captain of a side about the general behaviour when necessary. At an award-giving ceremony after a fixture like a cup competition final, any trophy won by a team will be received by the captain who will also be the first one to hoist it. The captain also generally leads the teams out of the room at the start of the match. The captain generally provides a point for the team, if morale is low. Captains may join the manager in deciding the first team for a certain game, in youth or recreational football, the captain often takes on duties, that would, at a higher level, be delegated to the manager. A club captain is usually appointed for a season, if he is unavailable or not selected for a particular game, then the club vice-captain will be appointed to perform a similar role. The match captain is the first player to lift a trophy should the team win one, a good example of this was in the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final when match captain Peter Schmeichel lifted the trophy for Manchester United as club captain Roy Keane was suspended. In the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final, match captain Frank Lampard jointly lifted the trophy for Chelsea with club captain John Terry, a club may appoint two distinct roles, a club captain to represent the players in a public relations role, and correspondent on the pitch. After Neville retired in 2011, regular starter Nemanja Vidić was named as club captain, são Paulos Rogério Ceni is the player who has worn the captains armband the most times. A vice-captain is a player that is expected to captain the side when the captain is not included in the starting eleven, or if, during a game. Examples include Manuel Neuer succeeding Philipp Lahm at Bayern Munich, Marcelo attaining from Sergio Ramos at Real Madrid C. F, gary Cahill being the understudy of John Terry at Chelsea FC and Lionel Messi taking over from Andrés Iniesta at FC Barcelona. Similarly, some clubs also name a 3rd captain to take the role of captain when both the captain and vice-captain are unavailable, during the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Germany had three captains. Michael Ballack had skippered the team since 2004, including the successful qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup. Lahm ended up becoming the permanent captain of Germany, as Ballack was never called up for the national team
6.
Hugo Lloris
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Hugo Lloris is a French professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper and is the captain of both English club Tottenham Hotspur and the French national team. Lloris is described as a goalkeeper who boasts lightning reflexes and good decision-making and is an opponent in one-on-one situations. Lloris also commands his box well, considered one of the best keepers in the world, he is a three-time winner of the National Union of Professional Footballers Ligue 1 Goalkeeper of the Year award. Lloris began his career with hometown club OGC Nice and he made his debut as a teenager in October 2005 and started in goal during the teams run to the 2006 Coupe de la Ligue Final. After excelling at the club for three seasons, Lloris moved to seven-time Ligue 1 champions Olympique Lyonnais, amid interest from other clubs. Lloris is a French international having represented his nation at under-18, under-19, prior to playing at senior level, he played on the under-19 team that won the 2005 European Under-19 Football Championship. Lloris made his international debut in November 2008 in a friendly against Uruguay. He helped France qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and was applauded by the media for his performance over two legs against the Republic of Ireland in the qualifying playoffs, in 2010, he captained the national team for the first time. Lloris was born on 26 December 1986 in the Mediterranean city of Nice to an upper-class family and his mother was a lawyer and his father is a Monte Carlo-based banker of Pays Catalan descent. He has a brother, Gautier, who plays as a central defender. In 2008, while Lloris was playing for Nice, his mother died, just two days after her death, he gained national respect for his refusal of a bereavement leave offer from manager Frédéric Antonetti, instead opting to play in a league match for Nice. Lloris performed admirably in the match despite the circumstances, as a youth, like his international and club teammate Yoann Gourcuff, Lloris excelled at tennis and played the sport up until the age of 13. He was among the top players in his age group, ranking high in the national standings before opting to focus on football. On 10 August 2010, Lloris was named, alongside international teammate Karim Benzema, on 23 September 2010, Lloris announced the birth of his daughter. Hugo began his career at age six playing at CEDAC. The centre offered a variety of activities, which included football, Lloris excelled at the position and caught the attention of former OGC Nice goalkeeper and French international Dominique Baratelli, who recommended that the player join his former club. At the age of ten, Lloris joined Nices youth academy, after success with the clubs under-18 team, Lloris was promoted to the clubs reserve team in the Championnat de France amateur, the fourth level of French football, for the 2004–05 season. He alternated the starting spot with Hilaire Munoz as he appeared in 12 matches
7.
Cap (sport)
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In British sport, a cap is a metaphorical term for a players appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in a match of association football. An early illustration of the first international match between Scotland and England in 1872 shows the Scottish players wearing cowls, and the English wearing a variety of school caps. These to be termed International Caps, the act of awarding a cap is now international and is applied to other sports. Thus, a cap is awarded for each game played and so a player who has played x games, the practice of awarding a physical cap varies from sport to sport. It may be awarded prior to a debut or, particularly for national teams. As an example, the England mens association football teams still awards physical caps, Players are awarded one cap for every match they play — unless they play in a World Cup or European Championship finals tournament. Then they are given a cap for the competition — with the names of all their opponents stitched into the fabric of the cap itself. In mens association football, the record belongs to former player Ahmed Hassan of Egypt, the first footballer to win 100 international caps was Billy Wright of Englands Wolverhampton Wanderers. Wright went on to appear 105 times for England,90 of them he obtained whilst he was a captain, however, it is a players choice to refuse to play for or retire from his or her national team. In cricket, there are two types of caps, firstly, there is the international type, as described above. Some countries also award a domestic type generally known as a county cap, the latter system is most commonly applied in English county cricket. Most counties do not automatically award caps to players on their first appearance, instead, indeed, one can play at the highest domestic level for several years, and have a quite significant career in first-class cricket, without ever winning a cap. The world record for the number of caps in Test cricket is held by Sachin Tendulkar of India, Tendulkar also holds the record for One Day Internationals, with 463 caps. In rugby union,35 players have reached 100 international caps as of 5 June 2012, Players from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland are eligible for selection to the British and Irish Lions touring squad. Lions matches are classed as full international tests, and caps are awarded, the Pacific Islanders team, composed of players from Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Niue and Cook Islands have a similar arrangement, although no players involved have so far reached 100 caps. Players still active at Test level are in bold type, the record for most caps is held by former Australian Kangaroos player & captain Darren Lockyer with 59 games and second place is former New Zealand Kiwis player & captain Ruben Wiki with 55 games. Players still active at Test level are in bold type, mens Records and Facts FIFA Players with 100+ Caps RSSSF Picture of International Football Cap National Museum of Scotland Gallery of International Caps and Honours Caps
8.
Lilian Thuram
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Thuram played at the top flight in France, Italy and Spain for over 15 seasons, including ten in Serie A with both Parma and Juventus. With France, Thuram won the 1998 FIFA World Cup and [, a quick, powerful and versatile player, he was capable of playing both as a right-back or as a centre-back, and was competent both offensively and defensively. Thuram was born in Guadeloupe in the French West Indies and his family relocated to mainland France in 1981. Thurams football career began with Monaco in Ligue 1 in 1991 and he then transferred to Parma and then to Juventus for £25 million, and eventually to Barcelona in 2006. Thuram started his career with Monaco in 1991. He only made one appearance that season, but was promoted to the first team the following season. He was inserted into the starting XI by the end of 1992 and would go on to make 155 league appearances for the Ligue 1 outfit and he made his national team debut in 1994, while at Monaco. With Monaco, he most notably won the Coupe de France in 1991, in July 1996, Thuram made a high-profile transfer to Italy to join Serie A club Parma. In his first season, he made over 40 appearances for the club in all competitions, scoring one goal and he maintained a starting position in defence throughout his time with Parma, making 163 Serie A appearances and scoring one league goal. In all, he made over 200 appearances for the club, really making a name for himself and his transfer cost the club 80,000 million Italian lire. In the summer of 2001, Thuram made a transfer to Juventus, in his first season with the club, as a right back under Marcello Lippi, Thuram won the 2001–02 Serie A title, also reaching the final of the 2001–02 Coppa Italia. After five years with Juve, Thuram transferred to Barcelona in the Spanish La Liga and he managed over 200 total appearances for the club, with two goals. On 24 July 2006, Thuram signed with Barcelona for €5 million after Juventus were relegated to Serie B due to the calciopoli scandal. After his contract expired in the 2007–08 season, Thuram retired due to a heart condition which had a few years prior taken the life of his brother. In the season before his retirement, he was the third- or fourth-choice centre-back after Carles Puyol, Gabriel Milito. After becoming world champion in 1998, Thuram was a part of Frances triumph at UEFA Euro 2000. He also played in the 2002 World Cup,2006 World Cup, Euro 1996, Euro 2004 and Euro 2008, in addition to winning the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. Thuram scored only two goals, both of which came in one game – the 1998 World Cup semi-final against Croatia, in which France came back to win 2–1
9.
Thierry Henry
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Thierry Daniel Henry is a retired French professional footballer who played as a forward, and the current second assistant manager of the Belgium national team. He played for Monaco, Juventus, Barcelona, New York Red Bulls, at international level he represented France and is his countrys record goalscorer. Henry made his debut with Monaco in 1994. Good form led to an international call-up in 1998, after which he signed for the Serie A defending champions Juventus, a year later he signed for Premier League club Arsenal for £11 million. It was at Arsenal that Henry made his name as a world-class player, under long-time mentor and coach Arsène Wenger, Henry became a prolific striker and Arsenals all-time leading scorer with 228 goals in all competitions. He won two titles and three FA Cups at the club. In 2003 and 2004 Henry was runner-up for the FIFA World Player of the Year and he was named the PFA Players Player of the Year twice, and the FWA Footballer of the Year three times. Henry spent his two seasons with Arsenal as club captain, leading them to the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final. In June 2007, after eight years with Arsenal, he transferred to Barcelona for a fee of €24 million, in 2009, he was an integral part of the clubs historic treble when they won La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the UEFA Champions League. He went on to achieve an unprecedented sextuple by also winning the Supercopa de España, the UEFA Super Cup, in total, Henry has been named in the UEFA Team of the Year five times. In 2010, he joined the New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer and he returned to Arsenal on loan for two months in 2012. In 2013, Henry with the New York Red Bulls won the MLS Supporters Shield, Henry enjoyed success with the French national team, winning the 1998 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2000 and 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. In October 2007, he surpassed Michel Platinis record to become Frances top goalscorer, after amassing 123 appearances and 51 goals, Henry retired from international football after the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Henry was also one of the top commercially marketed footballers, he was ranked ninth in the world in 2006, in August 2016 he was appointed as the second assistant manager of Belgiums national team, alongside head coach Roberto Martínez and fellow assistant Graeme Jones. Henry is of Antillean heritage, his father, Antoine, is from Guadeloupe and he was born and raised in Les Ulis suburb of Paris which, despite sometimes being seen as a tough neighbourhood, provided good footballing facilities. As a seven-year-old, Henry showed great potential, prompting Claude Chezelle to recruit him to the local club CO Les Ulis and his father pressured him to attend training, although the youngster was not particularly drawn to football. He joined US Palaiseau in 1989, but after a year his father out with the club, so Henry moved to ES Viry-Châtillon. US Palaiseau coach Jean-Marie Panza, Henrys future mentor, followed him there, in 1990, Monaco sent scout Arnold Catalano to watch Henry, then at the age of 13 in a match
10.
Stade de France
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The Stade de France is the national stadium of France, just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 81,338 makes it the sixth-largest stadium in Europe, the stadium is used by the France national football team and French rugby union team for international competition. Originally built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, the name was recommended by Michel Platini. On 12 July 1998, France defeated Brazil 3–0 in the 1998 FIFA World Cup Final contested at the stadium, the facility also hosted the Race of Champions auto race in 2004,2005, and 2006. The stadium hosted the 2003 World Championships in Athletics and since 1999 it has hosted the annual Meeting Areva athletics meet and it also hosted some matches at UEFA Euro 2016, including the final, where France lost to Portugal by 1-0 after extra-time. Domestically, the Stade de France serves as a secondary home facility of Parisian rugby clubs Stade Français and Racing Métro 92, the facility is owned and operated by the Consortium Stade de France. The discussion of a stadium in France came about as a result of the countrys selection to host the 1998 FIFA World Cup on 2 July 1992. As a result of the selection, the country and the France Football Federation made a commitment to construct an 80 and it was the first time in over 70 years since the construction of the Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir that a stadium in France was being constructed for a specific event. Due to the magnitude and importance of the facility, the Council of State was allowed first hand approach to how the stadium would be constructed and paid for. The stadiums design was handled by the team of architects composed of Michel Macary, Aymeric Zublena, Regembal Michel, and Claude Costantini who were associated with CR SCAU Architecture. The stadium was ready for construction following the governments selection of manufacturers, Bouygues, Dumez, and SGE. With only 31 months to complete the stadium, construction commenced on 2 May 1995, the laying of the first cornerstone took place five months later on 6 September. After over a year of construction, over 800, 000m ² of earthworks had been created, the installation of the roof, which cost €45 million, and the mobile platform also took more than a year to complete. During the developmental phase, the stadium was referred to in French as the Grand Stade, on 4 December 1995, the Ministry of Sport launched a design competition to decide on a name for the stadium. The stadium was named the Stade de France after the Ministry heard a proposal from French football legend Michel Platini. The stadium was inaugurated on 28 January 1998 as it hosted a match between France and Spain. The total cost of the stadium was approximately €290 million, the national rugby teams first match in the facility was contested five days after its opening, on 2 February, with France earning a 24–17 win over England in front of 77,567 spectators. Philippe Bernat-Salles converted the first ever try at the stadium scoring it in the 11th minute of play, on 24 May 2000, the Stade de France hosted the 2000 UEFA Champions League Final
11.
List of FIFA country codes
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FIFA assigns a three-letter country code to each of its member and non-member countries. These are the codes used by FIFA and its continental confederations as name abbreviations of countries and dependent areas. There are currently 211 FIFA members, each one with its country code. The following codes refer to countries or dependent areas that are not affiliated with FIFA. Even though they are members or associate members of their regional confederations, the following codes are obsolete because a country has ceased to exist, changed its name, changed its code, or has become part of another country. Sport. Soccer Statistics Foundation Usenet group
12.
Kit (association football)
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In association football, kit is the standard equipment and attire worn by players. The sports Laws of the Game specify the minimum kit which a player must use, footballers generally wear identifying numbers on the backs of their shirts. Professional clubs also usually display players surnames or nicknames on their shirts, Football kit has evolved significantly since the early days of the sport when players typically wore thick cotton shirts, knickerbockers and heavy rigid leather boots. The Laws of the Game set out the equipment which must be worn by all players in Law 4. Five separate items are specified, shirt, shorts, socks, footwear, goalkeepers are allowed to wear tracksuit bottoms instead of shorts. While most players wear studded football boots, the Laws do not specify that these are required, shirts must have sleeves, and goalkeepers must wear shirts which are easily distinguishable from all other players and the match officials. Thermal undershorts may be worn, but must be the colour as the shorts themselves. Shin pads must be covered entirely by the stockings, be made of rubber, plastic or a similar material, and provide a reasonable degree of protection. The only other restriction on equipment defined in the Laws of the Game is the requirement that a player must not use equipment or wear anything that is dangerous to himself or another player. In the event of a match between teams who would wear identical or similar colours the away team must change to a different colour. The England national team plays in red shirts even when it is not required. Many professional clubs also have a kit, ostensibly to be used if both their first-choice and away colours are deemed too similar to those of an opponent. Most professional clubs have retained the basic colour scheme for several decades. Teams representing countries in international competition generally wear national colours in common with other sporting teams of the same nation, shirts are normally made of a polyester mesh, which does not trap the sweat and body heat in the same way as a shirt made of a natural fibre. Depending on local rules, there may be restrictions on how large these logos may be or on what logos may be displayed, competitions such as the Premier League may also require players to wear patches on their sleeves depicting the logo of the competition. The captain of team is usually required to wear an elasticated armband around the left sleeve to identify him as the captain to the referee. Most current players wear specialist football boots, which can be either of leather or a synthetic material. Modern boots are cut slightly below the ankles, as opposed to the high-ankled boots used in former times, studs may be either moulded directly to the sole or be detachable, normally by means of a screw thread
13.
FIFA World Rankings
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The rankings were introduced in December 1992, and eight teams have held the top position, of which Brazil have spent longest ranked first. A points system is used, with points being awarded based on the results of all FIFA-recognised full international matches, the ranking system was most recently revamped after the 2006 World Cup, with the first edition of the new series of rankings issued on 12 July 2006. The most significant change is that the rankings are now based on results over the four years instead of the previous eight years. Alternative systems have been devised, such as the World Football Elo Ratings, based on the Elo rating system used in chess and Go, ranking teams. In December 1992, FIFA first published a listing in order of its member associations to provide a basis for comparison of the relative strengths of these teams. From the following August, this list was more frequently updated, significant changes were implemented in January 1999 and again in July 2006, as a reaction to criticisms of the system. Membership of FIFA has expanded from 167 to 209 since the rankings began, the ranking formula used from August 1993 until December 1998 was very simplistic and quickly became noticed for its lack of supporting factors. When the rankings were introduced, a team received one point for a draw or three for a victory in FIFA-recognised matches – much the same as a traditional league scoring system. This was a simplistic approach, however, and FIFA quickly realised that there were many factors affecting international matches. In order to meet the objective of fairly and accurately comparing the strengths of various national sides. In January 1999, FIFA introduced a system of ranking calculation. For the ranking all matches, their scores and importance were all recorded, only matches for the senior mens national team were included. Separate ranking systems were used for other national sides such as womens and junior teams. The womens rankings were, and still are, based on a procedure which is a version of the Football Elo Ratings. FIFA announced that the system would be updated following the 2006 World Cup. The evaluation period was cut from eight to four years, goals scored and home or away advantage are no longer taken into account, and other aspects of the calculations, including the importance attributed to different types of match, have been revised. The first set of revised rankings and the methodology were announced on 12 July 2006. This change is rooted at least in part in widespread criticism of the ranking system
14.
World Football Elo Ratings
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The World Football Elo Ratings is a ranking system for mens national association football teams that is published by the website eloratings. net. It is based on the Elo rating system but includes modifications to take various football-specific variables into account, like the margin of victory, importance of a match, and home field advantage. Other implementations of the Elo rating system are possible and there is no single nor any official Elo ranking for football teams. The FIFA World Rankings, not based on the Elo method, is the national teams rating system used by the international governing body of football and is therefore more prevalent. The ratings consider all international A matches for which results could be found, Ratings tend to converge on a teams true strength relative to its competitors after about 30 matches. Ratings for teams with fewer than 30 matches should be considered provisional, the FIFA Womens World Rankings system uses a modified version of the Elo formula whereas the FIFA mens ranking system uses a non-Elo formula. The following table shows the top 100 teams in the World Football Elo Ratings on 29 March 2017, each national teams FIFA World Rankings are shown as they were in the latest release on 6 April 2017. Time averaged Elo or Elo-like scores are used to compare chess player strengths. The following is a list of the teams with the highest average Elo score from 1 January 1970 to 1 January 2017. Before this time intercontinental play was limited and many nations in Africa, North America. The team in each confederation that has achieved the highest rank is shown in color, the following is a list of national football teams ranked by their highest Elo ranking ever reached. Note that for the highest ranking/rating of a football team the Elo ratings website ignores the ranking/rating before 30 matches have been played. The table below shows the teams with the best average Elo score per decade, a list of the 16 matches between teams with the highest combined Elo ratings. A list of the matches with the biggest point exchange, the nations points before the matches are given. In 1997 Bob Runyan adapted the Elo rating system to international football and he was also the first maintainer of the World Football Elo Ratings web site, now maintained by Kirill Bulygin. The Elo system was adapted for football by adding a weighting for the kind of match, an adjustment for the home advantage. Ratings tend to converge on a teams true strength relative to its competitors after about 30 matches, Ratings for teams with fewer than 30 matches should be considered provisional. There is no first step as in the FIFA system where a team receives points for the result
15.
Belgium national football team
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The Belgian national football team has officially represented Belgium in association football since their maiden match in 1904. The squad is under the jurisdiction of FIFA and is governed in Europe by UEFA—both of which were co-founded by the Belgian teams supervising body. Periods of regular Belgian representation at the highest international level, from 1920 to 1938, most of Belgiums home games are played at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels. Belgiums national team has participated in three major football competitions. Other notable performances are victories over four reigning world champions—West Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Belgium has long-standing football rivalries with its Dutch and French counterparts, having played both teams nearly every year from 1905 to 1967. The squad has been known as the Red Devils since 1906, during the national player career of forward Paul Van Himst, the most-praised Belgian footballer of the 20th century, Belgium took third place at Euro 1972. After that, they experienced two golden ages with many gifted players, in the first period, which lasted from the 1980s to the early 1990s, the team finished as runners-up at Euro 1980 and fourth in the 1986 World Cup. In the second, under guidance of Marc Wilmots in the 2010s, between September 2016 and October 2017, they are competing in the European qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup. Belgium was one of the first mainland European countries to play association football and its practice in Belgium began on 26 October 1863, after an Irish student walked into the Josephites College of Melle with a leather ball. Initially an elitist pastime, during the following decades association football supplanted rugby as Belgiums most popular football sport, on 11 October 1900, Beerschot AC honorary president Jorge Díaz announced that Antwerp would host a series of challenge matches between Europes best football teams. After some organisational problems, on 28 April 1901, Beerschots pitch hosted its first tournament, in which a Belgian A-squad, Belgium won, and beat the Netherlands in all three follow-up games, FIFA does not recognise these results because Belgium fielded some English players. On 1 May 1904, the Belgians played their first official game, against France at the Stade du Vivier dOie in Uccle, twenty days later, the football boards of both countries were among the seven FIFA founders. At that time, the Belgian squad was chosen by a committee drawn from the six or seven major clubs. From 1912, UBSSA governed football only and was renamed UBSFA, during the Great War, the national team only played unrecognised friendlies, with games in and against France. This triumph led them to a high second place in the World Football Elo Ratings. In the three 1920s Summer Olympics, they achieved results, and played their first intercontinental match. Over the following decade, however, Belgium lost all of their matches at the first three FIFA World Cup final tournaments, according to historian Richard Henshaw, The growth of in Scandinavia, Central Europe, and South America left Belgium far behind. Although World War II hindered international football events in the 1940s, Belgium qualified for only one of eight major tournaments during the 1950s and the 1960s, the 1954 World Cup
16.
Brussels
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Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels which is the capital of Belgium. The Brussels-Capital Region is a part of both the French Community of Belgium and the Flemish Community, but is separate from the region of Flanders or Wallonia. The region has a population of 1.2 million and an area with a population of over 1.8 million. Brussels is the de facto capital of the European Union as it hosts a number of principal EU institutions, the secretariat of the Benelux and the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are also located in Brussels. Today, it is considered an Alpha global city, historically a Dutch-speaking city, Brussels has seen a language shift to French from the late 19th century onwards. Today, the majority language is French, and the Brussels-Capital Region is a bilingual enclave within the Flemish Region. All road signs, street names, and many advertisements and services are shown in both languages, Brussels is increasingly becoming multilingual with increasing numbers of migrants, expatriates and minority groups speaking their own languages. The most common theory of the origin of Brussels name is that it derives from the Old Dutch Broekzele or Broeksel, meaning marsh, Saint Vindicianus, the bishop of Cambrai made the first recorded reference to the place Brosella in 695 when it was still a hamlet. The origin of the settlement that was to become Brussels lies in Saint Gaugericus construction of a chapel on an island in the river Senne around 580. The official founding of Brussels is usually situated around 979, when Duke Charles of Lower Lotharingia transferred the relics of Saint Gudula from Moorsel to the Saint Gaugericus chapel, Charles would construct the first permanent fortification in the city, doing so on that same island. Lambert I of Leuven, Count of Leuven gained the County of Brussels around 1000 by marrying Charles daughter, as it grew to a population of around 30,000, the surrounding marshes were drained to allow for further expansion. The Counts of Leuven became Dukes of Brabant at about this time, in the 13th century, the city got its first walls. After the construction of the city walls in the early 13th century, to let the city expand, a second set of walls was erected between 1356 and 1383. Today, traces of it can still be seen, mostly because the small ring, Brabant had lost its independence, but Brussels became the Princely Capital of the prosperous Low Countries, and flourished. In 1516 Charles V, who had been heir of the Low Countries since 1506, was declared King of Spain in St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral in Brussels. Upon the death of his grandfather, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor in 1519 and it was in the Palace complex at Coudenberg that Charles V abdicated in 1555. This impressive palace, famous all over Europe, had expanded since it had first become the seat of the Dukes of Brabant. In 1695, during the Nine Years War, King Louis XIV of France sent troops to bombard Brussels with artillery, together with the resulting fire, it was the most destructive event in the entire history of Brussels
17.
Belgium
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Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a sovereign state in Western Europe bordered by France, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and the North Sea. It is a small, densely populated country which covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres and has a population of about 11 million people. Additionally, there is a group of German-speakers who live in the East Cantons located around the High Fens area. Historically, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were known as the Low Countries, the region was called Belgica in Latin, after the Roman province of Gallia Belgica. From the end of the Middle Ages until the 17th century, today, Belgium is a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. It is divided into three regions and three communities, that exist next to each other and its two largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north and the French-speaking southern region of Wallonia. The Brussels-Capital Region is a bilingual enclave within the Flemish Region. A German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia, Belgiums linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in its political history and complex system of governance, made up of six different governments. Upon its independence, declared in 1830, Belgium participated in the Industrial Revolution and, during the course of the 20th century, possessed a number of colonies in Africa. This continuing antagonism has led to several far-reaching reforms, resulting in a transition from a unitary to a federal arrangement during the period from 1970 to 1993. Belgium is also a member of the Eurozone, NATO, OECD and WTO. Its capital, Brussels, hosts several of the EUs official seats as well as the headquarters of major international organizations such as NATO. Belgium is also a part of the Schengen Area, Belgium is a developed country, with an advanced high-income economy and is categorized as very high in the Human Development Index. A gradual immigration by Germanic Frankish tribes during the 5th century brought the area under the rule of the Merovingian kings, a gradual shift of power during the 8th century led the kingdom of the Franks to evolve into the Carolingian Empire. Many of these fiefdoms were united in the Burgundian Netherlands of the 14th and 15th centuries, the Eighty Years War divided the Low Countries into the northern United Provinces and the Southern Netherlands. The latter were ruled successively by the Spanish and the Austrian Habsburgs and this was the theatre of most Franco-Spanish and Franco-Austrian wars during the 17th and 18th centuries. The reunification of the Low Countries as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands occurred at the dissolution of the First French Empire in 1815, although the franchise was initially restricted, universal suffrage for men was introduced after the general strike of 1893 and for women in 1949. The main political parties of the 19th century were the Catholic Party, French was originally the single official language adopted by the nobility and the bourgeoisie
18.
Azerbaijan national football team
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The Azerbaijan national football team is the national football team of Azerbaijan and is controlled by Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan. It represents Azerbaijan in international football competitions, the majority of Azerbaijans home matches are held at the national stadium, Baku National Stadium, with friendly matches sometimes hosted at club stadiums. In the early century, football began to become popular in Azerbaijan. In 1912, Azerbaijani football players had their first international match and they won in Tbilisi, during 1912–1913, matches between Azerbaijani and Georgian football teams were organized, first in Tbilisi and then in Baku. In 1914 the Football Union was founded in Azerbaijan, the Football Union undertook the organization of official city championships and other competitions. The oldest records of teams in Soviet Azerbaijan goes back to 1926–1927. Three South Caucasian countries participated, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia, the Azerbaijan national football team held its first friendly matches against Georgia and Armenia in 1927 for the Trans-Caucasian Championship in Georgia. Also in 1926 footbal players from Azerbaijan played three matches with Football team from Iran in Baku, in 1929 there were played three matches between these teams in Tehran. In all matches Azerbaijan players won, after Azerbaijan gained its independence in 1991, AFFA — Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan — was created. In 1994, the team was accepted into FIFA and UEFA. The security issues, forced the team to all of its home Euro 96 qualifiers in Trabzon. As of the early 2000s, AFFA started to more players to the national team through FIFAs eligibility rules. In February 2004, Carlos Alberto Torres, captain of the Brazil team that won the 1970 FIFA World Cup was appointed its national coach. Despite a poor start, a 0–6 defeat to Israel on February 18, Azerbaijan won their first ever away match, 3–2 against Kazakhstan on April 28. In June 2005, following a 3–0 defeat by Poland, Torres stood down from the position, to be replaced by former Neftchi coach Vagif Sadygov, shahin Diniyev took over as manager in November 2005. He resigned on 31 October 2007, and Gjoko Hadzievski was named as care-taking coach of Azerbaijan, in April 2008, former German football player and coach Berti Vogts was appointed as a manager of Azerbaijan on a two-year contract. Azerbaijan had a qualifying campaign, finishing with 5 points. In November 2009, AFFA extended Berti Vogts contract a further two years, making him the first manager to manage Azerbaijani national team in two qualification cycles
19.
Auxerre
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Auxerre is the capital of the Yonne department and the fourth-largest city in Burgundy. Auxerres population today is about 39,000, the area comprises roughly 92,000 inhabitants. Residents of Auxerre are referred to as Auxerrois, Auxerre is a commercial and industrial centre, with industries including food production, woodworking and batteries. It is also noted for its production of Burgundy wine, including world-famous Chablis, in 1995 Auxerre was named Town of Art and History. Auxerre was a flourishing Gallo-Roman centre, then called Autissiodorum, through which passed one of the roads of the area. In the third century it became the seat of a bishop, in the 5th century it received a Cathedral. In the late 11th-early 12th century the existing communities were included inside a new line of walls built by the counts of Auxerre. Bourgeois activities accompanied the land and wine cultivations starting from the twelfth century. The Burgundian city, which part of France under King Louis XI, suffered during the Hundred Years War. In 1567 it was captured by the Huguenots, and many of the Catholic edifices were damaged, the medieval ramparts were demolished in the 18th century. In the 19th century numerous heavy infrastructures were built, including a station, a psychiatric hospital and the courts. Up until recently, Auxerre was one of the most prosperous cities in the country, in Gothic style, it is renowned for its three doorways with remarkable bas-reliefs. The stained glass windows in the choir and the chapel are among the finest in France. The 11th century crypt houses the remains of the former Romanesque cathedral, abbey of Saint-Germain, existing from the ninth century. The crypt has some of the most ancient mural paintings in France, also interesting are the chapter room, the cellar and the cloister. The Clock tower, located in the Old Town The church of St. Pierre en Vallée, in the style of late Gothic architecture, it has a tower similar to that of the cathedral. Portions of the decorations and inner chapels were financed by local winegrowers, church of St. Eusèbe, founded in the 7th century. The nave was rebuilt in the 13th century, while the tower is in Romanesque style, Saint Helladius, bishop of Auxerre Saint Patrick, Apostle to the Irish, visited Bishop Germanus of Auxerre here
20.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
21.
Denmark national football team
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Denmarks home ground is Telia Parken in the Østerbro district of Copenhagen, and their head coach is Åge Hareide. Denmark were the winners of the Football at the 1906 Intercalated Games and they also managed to win the 1995 Confederations Cup, defeating Argentina in the final. Their best FIFA World Cup result was achieved in 1998, where they narrowly lost 3–2 in a quarter-final against Brazil. Apart from the mens senior A-level team, Denmark competes with a national team. Historically, the A-level team competed in the Olympics until and including the 1988 tournament, in addition to the A-level team and youth teams, Denmark also have a special league national team named Ligalandsholdet, with the best Danish footballers from the Nordic leagues. Ligalandsholdet was created in January 1983, and has ever since, each year played some games for the national team. Sometimes the media also refer to Ligalandsholdet as Denmarks B-team, as the best Danish footballers selected for the A-team often play in leagues outside of the Nordic countries. The team to represent Denmark was compiled of players from the Copenhagen Football Association, and they managed to win the event, two years later, in the first official football tournament at the 1908 Olympics, Denmark won a silver medal. Although Denmark figured fairly prominently in the pre-World Cup era, international success would elude them for years from the first World Cup in 1930 and forward. When DBU decided to set their sights higher, they allowed the team to start contesting the Olympics again. After the team reached the quarter-final at the 1952 Olympics. Denmark experienced their next revival at the 1960 Olympics, with a set of Olympic silver medals. This was followed by another performance in the Euro 1964. The fourth place was however by many considered as being more the result of a comparatively easy draw. In order for Denmark to qualify for the semifinal, they only had to beat Malta, Albania, at the semifinal, Denmark received a clear 0–3 defeat against the Soviet Union, and then finally also lost the bronze match to Hungary. The new sponsorship enabled DBU, to hire Sepp Piontek from Germany in July 1979, the full transition of the national team from amateurism to professionalism had now been accomplished, and indeed, this would soon lead to a vast improvement in the performances of the team. Qualification for the Euro 1984 saw the team beat England at Wembley Stadium when Allan Simonsen converted a penalty kick for a 1–0 win. Denmark qualified for their first international tournament since 1964, and the team was dubbed Danish Dynamite in a competition for the official Danish Euro 1984 song
22.
London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
23.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
24.
FIFA World Cup
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The championship has been awarded every four years since the inaugural tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not held because of the Second World War. The current champion is Germany, which won its title at the 2014 tournament in Brazil. 32 teams, including the qualifying host nation, compete in the tournament phase for the title at venues within the host nation over a period of about a month. The 20 World Cup tournaments have been won by eight different national teams, Brazil have won five times, and they are the only team to have played in every tournament. The worlds first international match was a challenge match played in Glasgow in 1872 between Scotland and England, which ended in a 0–0 draw. The first international tournament, the edition of the British Home Championship. After FIFA was founded in 1904, it tried to arrange an international football tournament between nations outside the Olympic framework in Switzerland in 1906 and these were very early days for international football, and the official history of FIFA describes the competition as having been a failure. At the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, football became an official competition, planned by The Football Association, Englands football governing body, the event was for amateur players only and was regarded suspiciously as a show rather than a competition. Great Britain won the gold medals and they repeated the feat in 1912 in Stockholm. With the Olympic event continuing to be contested only between teams, Sir Thomas Lipton organised the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy tournament in Turin in 1909. The Lipton tournament was a championship between clubs from different nations, each one of which represented an entire nation. Lipton invited West Auckland, a side from County Durham. West Auckland won the tournament and returned in 1911 to successfully defend their title, in 1914, FIFA agreed to recognise the Olympic tournament as a world football championship for amateurs, and took responsibility for managing the event. This paved the way for the worlds first intercontinental football competition, at the 1920 Summer Olympics, contested by Egypt and 13 European teams, Uruguay won the next two Olympic football tournaments in 1924 and 1928. Those were also the first two world championships, as 1924 was the start of FIFAs professional era. On 28 May 1928, the FIFA Congress in Amsterdam decided to stage a championship itself. With Uruguay now two-time official football world champions and to celebrate their centenary of independence in 1930, indeed, no European country pledged to send a team until two months before the start of the competition. Rimet eventually persuaded teams from Belgium, France, Romania, in total,13 nations took part, seven from South America, four from Europe and two from North America
25.
1930 FIFA World Cup
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The 1930 FIFA World Cup was the inaugural FIFA World Cup, the world championship for mens national association football teams. It took place in Uruguay from 13 July to 30 July 1930, all matches were played in the Uruguayan capital, Montevideo, the majority at the Estadio Centenario, which was built for the tournament. Few European teams chose to participate because of the difficulty of travelling to South America, the teams were divided into four groups, with the winner of each group progressing to the semi-finals. The first two World Cup matches took place simultaneously, and were won by France and the United States, Lucien Laurent of France scored the first goal in World Cup history, while American goalkeeper Jimmy Douglas posted the first official clean sheet in the tournament. Argentina, Uruguay, the United States and Yugoslavia each won their groups to qualify for the semi-finals. In the final, hosts and pre-tournament favourites Uruguay defeated Argentina 4–2 in front of a crowd of 93,000 people, italy, Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain, Hungary and Uruguay all lodged applications to host the event. Uruguays bid became the clear selection after all the other countries withdrew their bids, the first World Cup was the only one without qualification. Every country affiliated with FIFA was invited to compete, and given a deadline of 28 February 1930 to accept, plenty of interest was shown by nations in the Americas, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and the United States all entered. A total of seven South American teams participated, more than in any subsequent World Cup Finals. However, because of the long and costly trip by ship across the Atlantic Ocean, some refused to countenance travel to South America in any circumstances, and no European entries were received before the February deadline. This was rejected by the FA Committee on 18 November 1929, two months before the start of the tournament, no team from Europe had officially entered. FIFA president Jules Rimet intervened, and eventually four European teams made the trip by sea, Belgium, France, Romania, and Yugoslavia. The Romanians, managed by Constantin Rădulescu and coached by their captain Rudolf Wetzer and Octav Luchide and he selected the squad personally, and negotiated with employers to ensure that the players would still have jobs upon their return. The French entered at the intervention of Rimet, but neither Frances star defender Manuel Anatol nor the teams regular coach Gaston Barreau could be persuaded to make the trip. The Belgians participated at the instigation of German-Belgian FIFA vice-president Rodolphe Seeldrayers, the Romanians boarded the SS Conte Verde at Genoa, the French were picked up at Villefranche-sur-Mer on 21 June 1930, and the Belgians embarked at Barcelona. The Conte Verde carried Rimet, the trophy and the three designated European referees, the Belgians Jean Langenus and Henri Christophe, along with Thomas Balway, a Parisian who may have been English. The Brazilian team were picked up when the boat docked in Rio de Janeiro on 29 June before arriving in Uruguay on 4 July, Yugoslavia travelled via the mail steamship Florida from Marseille. In the Kingdom of Yugoslavia there were doubts about their participation at first, since the Croatians decided to boycott the national team, King Alexander I did not want to finance the whole idea, but in the end they found a solution
26.
1998 FIFA World Cup
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The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for mens national association football teams. It was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998, the country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the second time in the history of the tournament, defeating Morocco in the bidding process. It was the time that France staged the competition. Qualification for the finals began in March 1996 and concluded in November 1997, for the first time in the competition, the group stage was expanded from 24 teams to 32, with eight groups of four. A total of 64 matches were played in 10 stadiums located across 10 different host cities, with the match and final staged at the Stade de France. The tournament was won by France, who beat Brazil 3–0 in the final, France won their first title, becoming the seventh nation to win a World Cup, and the sixth to win the tournament on home soil. Croatia, Jamaica, Japan and South Africa made their first appearances in the finals, France was awarded the 1998 World Cup on 2 July 1992 by the executive committee of FIFA during a general meeting in Zürich, Switzerland. They defeated Morocco by 12 votes to 7, Switzerland withdrew, due to being unable to meet FIFAs requirements. This made France the third country to host two World Cups, after Mexico and Italy in 1986 and 1990 respectively, France previously hosted the third edition of the World Cup in 1938. England, who hosted the competition in 1966 and won it, were among the original applicants, blazer stated that we facilitated bribes in conjunction with the selection of the host nation for the 1998 World Cup. Since France won the selection process it was thought the bribery came from its bid committee. It eventually transpired that the payment was from the failed Moroccan bid. The qualification draw for the 1998 World Cup finals took place in the Musée du Louvre, as tournament hosts, France was exempt from the draw as was Brazil the defending champions. 174 teams from six confederations participated, up 24 from the previous round, in Europe, fourteen countries qualified excluding France. Ten were determined after group play, nine group winners and the best second-placed team, the other eight group runners-up were drawn into pairs of four play-off matches – the winners of which qualifying for the finals as well. The winner of the Oceanian zone advanced through to an intercontinental play-off against the runner-up of the Asian play-off, four nations qualified for the World Cup for the first time, Croatia, Jamaica, Japan and South Africa. The last team to qualify was Iran by virtue of beating Australia in a tie on 29 November 1997. It marked their first appearance in the finals since 1978, the last time Tunisia also qualified for the tournament, chile qualified for the first time since 1982
27.
UEFA European Football Championship
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Held every four years since 1960, in the even-numbered year between World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the UEFA European Nations Cup, changing to the current name in 1968. Starting with the 1996 tournament, specific championships are often referred to in the form UEFA Euro, prior to entering the tournament all teams other than the host nations compete in a qualifying process. The championship winners earn the opportunity to compete in the following FIFA Confederations Cup, to date, Spain is the only team in history to have won consecutive titles, doing so in 2008 and 2012. It is the second most watched football tournament in the world after the FIFA World Cup, the Euro 2012 final was watched by a global audience of around 300 million. The most recent championship, hosted by France in 2016, was won by Portugal, in honour of Delaunay, the trophy awarded to the champions is named after him. The 1960 tournament, held in France, had four competing in the finals out of 17 that entered the competition. It was won by the Soviet Union, beating Yugoslavia 2–1 in a final in Paris. Spain withdrew from its quarter-final match against the USSR because of two political protests, of the 17 teams that entered the qualifying tournament, notable absentees were England, the Netherlands, West Germany and Italy. The hosts beat the holders, the Soviet Union, 2–1 at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid. The tournament format stayed the same for the 1968 tournament, hosted, for the first and only time a match was decided on a coin toss and the final went to a replay, after the match against Yugoslavia finished 1–1. More teams entered this tournament, a testament to its burgeoning popularity, Belgium hosted the 1972 tournament, which West Germany won, beating the USSR 3–0 in the final, with goals coming from Gerd Müller and Herbert Wimmer at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels. This tournament would provide a taste of things to come, as the German side contained many of the key members of the 1974 FIFA World Cup Champions. The 1976 tournament in Yugoslavia was the last in which four teams took part in the final tournament. Czechoslovakia beat West Germany in the newly introduced penalty shootout, after seven successful conversions, Uli Hoeneß missed, leaving Czechoslovakian Antonín Panenka with the opportunity to score and win the tournament. An audacious chipped shot, described by UEFA as perhaps the most famous spot kick of all time secured the victory as Czechoslovakia won 5–3 on penalties, the competition was expanded to eight teams in the 1980 tournament, again hosted by Italy. It involved a stage, with the winners of the groups going on to contest the final. West Germany won their second European title by beating Belgium 2–1, Horst Hrubesch scored early in the first half before René Vandereycken equalised for Belgium with a penalty in the second half. With two minutes remaining, Hrubesch headed the winner for West Germany from a Karl-Heinz Rummenigge corner, the format also changed, with the top two teams in each group going through to a semi-final stage, instead of the winners of each group going straight into the final
28.
1960 European Football Championship
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The 1960 UEFA European Nations Cup was the first European Football Championship, held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. The first tournament was held in France and it was won by the Soviet Union, who beat Yugoslavia 2–1 in Paris after extra time. The tournament was a competition, just 17 teams entered with some notable absences, West Germany, Italy. The teams would play matches until the semi-finals, the final four teams would move on to the final tournament. In the semi-finals, the Soviets made easy work of the Czechoslovaks in Marseille, the other match saw a nine-goal thriller as Yugoslavia came on top 5–4, coming back from a two-goal deficit twice. Czechoslovakia beat the demoralized French 2–0 for third place, in the final, Yugoslavia scored first, but the Soviet Union, led by legendary goalkeeper Lev Yashin, equalized in the 49th minute. After 90 minutes the score was 1–1, and Viktor Ponedelnik scored with seven minutes left in time to give the Soviets the inaugural European Championship. Notes In all matches but the final, extra time and a coin toss were used to decide the winner if necessary, if the final remained level after extra time, a replay would be used to determine the winner. With two goals, Valentin Ivanov, Viktor Ponedelnik, Milan Galić, Dražan Jerković, François Heutte are the top scorers in the tournament. In total, there were 17 goals scored by 12 different players in 4 games, none of the goals were credited as own goal
29.
1984 European Football Championship
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The 1984 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in France from 12 to 27 June 1984. It was the seventh European Football Championship, a held every four years. West Germany also submitted a bid to host the tournament, at the time, only eight countries took part in the final stage of the tournament, seven of which had to come through the qualifying stage. France qualified automatically as hosts of the event, led by Michel Platini, the opening game of tournament featured France and Denmark. The sides played out a close encounter until Michel Platinis goal on 78 minutes gave the hosts a 1–0 victory. The opening game saw a premature end to the tournament for Danish midfielder Allan Simonsen. Platini then scored hat-tricks against both Belgium and Yugoslavia as the French recorded maximum points in Group 1, Denmark took second place in the group with victories over Belgium and Yugoslavia, while Belgium finished third with two points. The games in Group 1 were unusually high-scoring, and featured 23 goals over the six matches, Portugal also scored a late goal in their final match, against Romania, to take the second qualifying place behind Spain, while the Romanians finished bottom with one point. The first semi-final between France and Portugal is often considered one of the best matches in the history of the European Championship, jean-François Domergue opened the scoring for France but Portugal equalised through Rui Jordão on 74 minutes. The game went to time and Jordão scored again in the 98th minute to give the Portuguese a shock lead. Then, in the moments of the match and with a penalty shoot-out looming. The match went to a penalty shoot-out, and Spain converted all five of their penalties to win 5–4, the final was played to a capacity crowd at the Parc des Princes in Paris. Just before the mark, Platini scored from a free-kick to put France ahead following a mistake by Spanish goalkeeper Luis Arconada. France were reduced to ten players when Yvon Le Roux was sent off, but Spain were unable to equalise, France had won their first major championship in world football. The eight qualified teams were split into two groups of four played a round-robin schedule. The top two teams of each group advanced to semi-finals and the winners advanced to the final, the third-place game, widely perceived as an unnecessary chore, was dropped. Frances winning bid to host the Euro was based on seven stadia, the 48, 000-seat Parc des Princes in Paris was the venue for the opening match and the final. Built in 1972, it was still state-of-the-art in 1984 and needed minor improvements only, marseilles Stade Vélodrome was expanded to 55,000 seats to host one semi-final and some group matches, becoming Frances largest stadium on the occasion
30.
2000 European Football Championship
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The finals of Euro 2000 were co-hosted by Belgium and the Netherlands, between 10 June and 2 July 2000. Spain and Austria also bid to host the event, the final tournament was contested by 16 nations. With the exception of the teams of the hosts, Belgium and the Netherlands. France won the tournament, by defeating Italy 2–1 in the final, Romania was the other qualifier from the group, beating England with a late penalty in their last group game. Belgium had an exit in the group stage, winning the tournaments first game against Sweden. They finished third in Group B, behind Italy and Turkey, the other co-host and favourite, the Netherlands, progressed as expected from Group D, along with World Cup winners France. The Netherlands won the group, by beating France in their last group match, also in Group D, Denmarks three losses with eight goals conceded and none scored set a new record for the worst team performance in the group stages of a Euros. Group C was memorable for the match between FR Yugoslavia and Spain, Spain needed a win to ensure progression, but found themselves trailing 3–2, after Slobodan Komljenović scored in the 75th minute. The Spanish side rescued their tournament by scoring twice in injury time to record a 4–3 victory, FR Yugoslavia managed to go through as well, despite losing because Norway and Slovenia played to a draw. Italy and Portugal maintained their records in the quarter-finals, beating Romania and Turkey, respectively. Spain fell 2–1 to France, Raul missed a penalty that ended Spanish hopes. Italy eliminated the Netherlands in the semi-finals, despite going down to ten men, in the other semi-final, Portugal lost in extra time to France after Zinedine Zidane converted a controversial penalty kick. Several Portuguese players challenged the awarding of the penalty for a handball and were given lengthy suspensions for shoving the referee. In Britain, Match of the Day named Stefano Fiores goal against Belgium the Goal of the Tournament, ahead of Patrick Kluiverts against France, qualification for the tournament took place throughout 1998 and 1999. Forty-nine teams were divided into nine groups and each played the others in their group, the winner of each group and the best runner-up qualified automatically for the final tournament. The eight other runners-up played a set of play-off matches to determine the last four qualifiers. Belgium and the Netherlands automatically qualified for the tournament as co-hosts, the following 16 teams participated in the tournament, The composition of pots 1 to 3 was based on the teams UEFA coefficient at the end of 1999. The finals draw took place on 12 December 1999, the 16 national teams each stayed in their own team base camp during the tournament
31.
FIFA Confederations Cup
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The FIFA Confederations Cup is an international association football tournament for national teams, currently held every four years by FIFA. It is contested by the holders of each of the six championships, along with the FIFA World Cup holder. Since 2005, the tournament has been held in the nation that will host the FIFA World Cup in the following year, acting as a rehearsal for the larger tournament. However,2022 FIFA World Cup host Qatar will not host 2021 FIFA Confederations Cup as announced by FIFA in 2015 due to Qatars high temperatures during the summer period. This is the first edition, since the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup, the reigning Champion is Brazil who won the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, by defeating Spain 3–0 in the final for a record fourth title. They will not be able to defend their title, as they were eliminated by Paraguay in a penalty shoot-out in the Quarter-Finals of the 2015 Copa América. The tournament was organized by and held in Saudi Arabia and called the King Fahd Cup, contested in 1992 and 1995 by the Saudi national side. In 1997, FIFA took over the organization of the tournament, named it the FIFA Confederations Cup, since 2005, it has been held every four years, in the year prior to each World Cup in the host country of the forthcoming World Cup. At the same time, participation was optional for the South American and European champions. Generally, the host nation, the World Cup holders, in those cases where a team meets more than one of the qualification criteria, another team is invited to participate, often the runner-up in a competition that the extra-qualified team won. On four occasions teams have not to participate in the tournament. In 1997, Germany were replaced by 1996 runners-up Czech Republic, and in 2003 they were replaced by Turkey, france,1998 World Cup winners, declined their place in the 1999 Confederations Cup, and were replaced by Brazil, the 1998 World Cup runners-up. Italy, UEFA Euro 2000 runners up, declined their place in the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup, an earlier tournament existed that invited former World Cup winners, the Mundialito, or Copa de Oro which celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the first World Cup. Both of these are considered by some to be a form of a precursor to the Confederations Cup. The 8 qualified teams are drawn into two groups, two teams from the same confederation cannot be drawn in a group, except if there are three teams from the same confederation. Every team plays all teams in their group once, for a total three matches. The top two teams of each advance to the semi-finals, with the winners of each group playing the runners-up of the other group. For the knockout stage if the score is drawn at the end of time, extra time is played and followed, if necessary
32.
2001 FIFA Confederations Cup
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The 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup was the fifth FIFA Confederations Cup and the third to be organised by FIFA. It was also the first in which the hosts, Saudi Arabia. The tournament was played from 30 May to 10 June 2001, and co-hosted by South Korea and Japan and it was won by France, beating hosts Japan 1–0, with a goal from Patrick Vieira. By winning the tournament, France became the team to simultaneously be World Cup champions, continental champions and Confederations Cup winners. The eight teams were split into two groups of four, in each team plays each of the others once, with the top two in each group advancing to the semi-finals. For a list of all squads that appeared in the final tournament see,2001 FIFA Confederations Cup squads A total of 31 goals were scored by 24 different players, none of them is credited as own goal
33.
2003 FIFA Confederations Cup
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The 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup football tournament was the sixth FIFA Confederations Cup, held in France in June 2003. France went on to win the trophy with a goal from Thierry Henry. At the presentation of medals and trophies, two Cameroon players held a photo of Foé, and a runner-up medal was hung to the edge of the photo too. When French captain Marcel Desailly was presented with the Confederations Cup, he did not lift it up high, Foé finished third in media voting for player of the tournament and was posthumously awarded the Bronze Ball at its conclusion. 1Germany, the 2002 FIFA World Cup runners-up, declined to take part as did Italy, so did Spain, who were ranked second in the FIFA World Rankings at the time. They were replaced by Turkey, who came third in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, five bids came before the deadline at 1 May 2002. Australia, Portugal and the United States put in bids, while South Africa–Egypt. The host was selected on 24 September 2002, during a meeting of FIFAs Executive Committee, the matches were played in, For a list of all squads that appeared in the tournament, see 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup squads. Thierry Henry received the Golden Shoe award for scoring four goals, in total,37 goals were scored by 22 different players, with none of them credited as own goal. FIFA Confederations Cup France 2003, FIFA. com 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup Official Site FIFA Technical Report, and
34.
Football at the Summer Olympics
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Association football has been included in every Summer Olympic Games as a mens competition sport, except 1896 and 1932. Womens football was added to the program in 1996. Football was not included on the program at the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, however, sources claim that an unofficial football tournament was organized during the first competition, in which an Athens XI lost to a team representing Smyrna, then part of the Ottoman Empire. According to a source, this is an error which has been perpetuated in multiple texts, tournaments were played at the 1900 and 1904 games and the Intercalated Games of 1906, but these were contested by various clubs and scratch teams. Although the IOC considers the 1900 and 1904 tournaments to be official Olympic events, they are not recognized by FIFA, neither recognizes the Intercalated Games today. In 1906 teams from Great Britain, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and France withdrew from a competition and left Denmark, Smyrna, Athens. Denmark won the final against Athens 9–0, in the London Games of 1908 a proper international tournament was organised by the Football Association, featuring just six teams. The number of rose to eleven in 1912, when the competition was organised by the Swedish Football Association. Many of these matches were unbalanced, as evidenced by high scoring games. All players were amateurs, in accordance with the Olympic spirit, the National Olympic Committee for Great Britain and Ireland asked the Football Association to send an English national amateur team. Some of the English members played with clubs, most notably Derby Countys Ivan Sharpe, Bradford City F. C. Harold Walden. England won the first two official tournaments convincingly, beating Denmark both times, in the 1924 and 1928 Olympic games, the first South American teams entered the competition, Uruguay and Argentina. Football returned to controversy at the 1936 Berlin Games, the German organisers were intent on the return of the game to the Olympic movement since it guaranteed income into the organisations coffers. The Italian team intimidated a referee, peru scored a contested victory over Austria in overtime, with a fan invasion of the field at the very end. The Austrian team asked for the result to be annulled, FIFA agreed, the Peruvian team refused and left the Olympics. As professionalism spread around the world, the gap in quality between the World Cup and the Olympics widened, the countries that benefited most were the Soviet Bloc countries of Eastern Europe, where top athletes were state-sponsored while retaining their status as amateurs. Between 1948 and 1980,23 out of 27 Olympic medals were won by Eastern Europe, with only Sweden, Denmark, for the 1984 Los Angeles Games, the IOC decided to admit professional players. Since 1992 male competitors must be under 23 years old, and since 1996, players under 23 years old, with three over-23 year old players, are allowed per squad
35.
Olympic Games
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The Olympic Games are considered the worlds foremost sports competition with more than 200 nations participating. The Olympic Games are held four years, with the Summer and Winter Games alternating by occurring every four years. Their creation was inspired by the ancient Olympic Games, which were held in Olympia, Greece, Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee in 1894, leading to the first modern Games in Athens in 1896. The IOC is the body of the Olympic Movement, with the Olympic Charter defining its structure. The evolution of the Olympic Movement during the 20th and 21st centuries has resulted in changes to the Olympic Games. The IOC has had to adapt to a variety of economic, political, as a result, the Olympics has shifted away from pure amateurism, as envisioned by Coubertin, to allowing participation of professional athletes. The growing importance of mass media created the issue of corporate sponsorship, World wars led to the cancellation of the 1916,1940, and 1944 Games. Large boycotts during the Cold War limited participation in the 1980 and 1984 Games, the Olympic Movement consists of international sports federations, National Olympic Committees, and organising committees for each specific Olympic Games. As the decision-making body, the IOC is responsible for choosing the host city for each Games, the IOC also determines the Olympic programme, consisting of the sports to be contested at the Games. There are several Olympic rituals and symbols, such as the Olympic flag and torch, over 13,000 athletes compete at the Summer and Winter Olympic Games in 33 different sports and nearly 400 events. The first, second, and third-place finishers in each event receive Olympic medals, gold, silver, the Games have grown so much that nearly every nation is now represented. This growth has created numerous challenges and controversies, including boycotts, doping, bribery, every two years the Olympics and its media exposure provide unknown athletes with the chance to attain national and sometimes international fame. The Games also constitute an opportunity for the host city and country to themselves to the world. The Ancient Olympic Games were religious and athletic festivals held every four years at the sanctuary of Zeus in Olympia, competition was among representatives of several city-states and kingdoms of Ancient Greece. These Games featured mainly athletic but also combat such as wrestling. It has been written that during the Games, all conflicts among the participating city-states were postponed until the Games were finished. This cessation of hostilities was known as the Olympic peace or truce and this idea is a modern myth because the Greeks never suspended their wars. The truce did allow those religious pilgrims who were travelling to Olympia to pass through warring territories unmolested because they were protected by Zeus
36.
1984 Summer Olympics
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The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984. When Tehran, the other interested city on the international level, declined to bid due to the concurrent Iranian political and social changes. This was the second occasion Los Angeles hosted the games, the first being in 1932, for differing reasons, Iran and Libya also boycotted. The USSR announced its intention not to participate on May 8,1984, citing security concerns and chauvinistic sentiments, boycotting countries organized another large event in June–September 1984, called the Friendship Games, however, not even a single competition was held between July 28 and August 12. Representatives of the countries, the Soviets in particular, underlined it was not held to replace the Olympics. Elite athletes from the U. S. and USSR would only compete against each other at the 1986 Goodwill Games in Moscow, organized in response to the boycotts. The Olympic Committee led by Peter Ueberroth used some of the profits to endow the LA84 Foundation to promote sports in Southern California, educate coaches. The 1984 Summer Olympics are often considered the most financially successful modern Olympics, the host state of California was the home state of U. S. President Ronald Reagan, who officially opened the Games. He had served as Governor of California from 1967 to 1975, the official mascot of the Los Angeles Games was Sam the Olympic Eagle. The logo of the games featured five blue, white and red stars arranged horizontally and struck through with alternating streaks and these were the first Summer Olympic Games under the IOC presidency of Juan Antonio Samaranch. On July 18,2009, a 25th anniversary celebration was held in the main stadium and this celebration included a speech by the former president of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee, Ueberroth, and a re-creation of the lighting of the cauldron. After the murder of Israeli athletes by Palestinian terrorists in Munich and significant financial debts of Montreal, only two cities made serious bids for the 1984 Summer Games. But before a city could be anointed in 1978, Tehran, too. Hence, the process for the 1984 Summer Olympics consisted of a single finalized bid. The bid from Tehran was withdrawn before the selection as a result of Irans policy changes following the Iranian Revolution, Los Angeles had unsuccessfully bid for the two previous Summer Olympics, for 1976 and 1980. The 1984 Olympic Torch Relay began in New York City and ended in Los Angeles, traversing 33 states, unlike later torch relays, the torch was continuously carried by runners on foot. The route covered more than 9,320 mi and involved 3,636 runners, noted athlete O. J. Simpson was among the runners, carrying the torch up the California Incline in Santa Monica. With the torch, he touched off the flame passed through a specially designed flammable Olympic logo
37.
Football at the 1984 Summer Olympics
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The association football tournament at the 1984 Summer Olympics started on July 29 and ended on August 11. It featured only a mens tournament, as football had yet to become an Olympic event. It was the first Olympic football competition in which professionals were allowed, until then, the amateur-only rule had heavily favored socialist countries from Eastern Europe whose players were professionals in all but name. However, as agreed with FIFA to preserve the primacy of the World Cup, until 2014 this remained the record attendance for a football game in the United States. The Rose Bowl attendance would remain the Olympic record until 104,098 attended the Gold Medal game of the 2000 Summer Olympics between Cameroon and Spain at the Stadium Australia in Sydney, sixteen teams qualified for the Olympic tournament after continental qualifying rounds. Three Warsaw Pact countries had qualified but withdrew as part of the Soviet-led boycott and they were replaced as follows, East Germany won UEFA Group 2. They were replaced by Norway, who came third, second-place Poland were also boycotting and they were replaced by West Germany, second in Group 4. Hungary and Bulgaria, second and third in Group 1, were also boycotting and they were replaced by Italy, third in UEFA Group 3. Note, As per statistical convention in football, matches decided in time are counted as wins and losses. With five goals, Daniel Xuereb of France, Borislav Cvetković, in total,84 goals were scored by 52 different players, with none of them credited as own goal. The following twelve players were sent off and suspended during the tournament, Olympic Football Tournament Los Angeles 1984
38.
1900 Summer Olympics
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No opening or closing ceremonies were held, competitions began on May 14 and ended on October 28. The Games were held as part of the 1900 Worlds Fair, in total,997 competitors took part in 19 different sports. Women took part in the games for the first time and sailor Hélène de Pourtalès became the first female Olympic champion, at the Sorbonne conference of 1894, Pierre de Coubertin proposed that the Olympic Games should take place in 1900 in Paris. The delegates to the conference were unwilling to wait six years, a decision was made to hold the first Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens and that Paris would host the second celebration. Most of the winners in 1900 did not receive medals, but were given cups or trophies, professionals competed in fencing and Albert Robert Ayat, who won the épée for amateurs and masters, was awarded a prize of 3000 francs. This was also the only Olympic Games in history to use live animals as targets during the shooting event, the 1900 Games were held as part of the 1900 Exposition Universelle. The director of the Exposition Universelle, Alfred Picard, thought holding an ancient sport event at the Exposition Universelle was an absurd anachronism, after thanking de Coubertin for his plans, Picard filed them away and nothing more came of it. A committee was formed for the organization of the Games, consisting of some of the more able sports administrators of the day, British and Irish sports associations announced a desire to compete, as did a number of powerful American universities and sports clubs. Competitors from Russia and Australia also confirmed their intentions to travel to Paris, on November 9,1898, the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques put out an announcement that it would have sole right to any organised sport held during the Worlds Fair. It was an empty threat but Viscount Charles de La Rochefoucauld, the IOC ceded control of the Games to a new committee which was to oversee every sporting activity connected to the 1900 Exposition Universelle. Alfred Picard appointed Daniel Mérillon, the head of the French Shooting Association, between May and October 1900, the new organizing committee held an enormous number of sporting activities alongside the Paris Exposition. The sporting events rarely used the term of Olympic, indeed, the term Olympic Games was replaced by Concours internationaux dexercices physiques et de sport in the official report of the sporting events of the 1900 Exposition Universelle. The press reported competitions variously as International Championships, International Games, Paris Championships, World Championships, de Coubertin commented later to friends, Its a miracle that the Olympic Movement survived that celebration. Hélène de Pourtalès became the first female Olympic champion as part of the team in the 1-2 ton sailing event. Charlotte Cooper was the first woman to win an individual Olympic event after winning the singles tennis competition. She later went on to win the doubles tournament. In the coxed pairs and eights events in rowing, crews replaced adult coxswain with children, the identities and ages of these boys were not recorded but they are believed to have been amongst the youngest of all Olympic competitors. 85 events in 20 disciplines, comprising 19 sports, were part of the Olympic program in Paris, weightlifting and wrestling had been dropped since the 1896 Summer Olympics, while 13 new sports were added
39.
Football at the 1900 Summer Olympics
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At the 1900 Summer Olympics, a football tournament was contested for the first time. Only two demonstration matches were held between the three sides, and no medals were awarded. The football matches were held at the Vélodrome de Vincennes in Paris, the matches were held at the Vélodrome de Vincennes in Paris. In the first game, the British squad had little difficulty defeating the USFSA XI. Upton Park led 2–0 after the first half, the second game was somewhat more eventful. Gaston Peltier scored in the first minute to give the USFSA XI an early lead, the French scored five goals in the second half, however, to take the match 6–2. List of Olympic medalists in football RSSSF
40.
French language
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French is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages, French has evolved from Gallo-Romance, the spoken Latin in Gaul, and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues doïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to Frances past overseas expansion, there are numerous French-based creole languages, a French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is a language in 29 countries, most of which are members of la francophonie. As of 2015, 40% of the population is in Europe, 35% in sub-Saharan Africa, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas. French is the fourth-most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union, 1/5 of Europeans who do not have French as a mother tongue speak French as a second language. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 17th and 18th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, most second-language speakers reside in Francophone Africa, in particular Gabon, Algeria, Mauritius, Senegal and Ivory Coast. In 2015, French was estimated to have 77 to 110 million native speakers, approximately 274 million people are able to speak the language. The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie estimates 700 million by 2050, in 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese. Under the Constitution of France, French has been the language of the Republic since 1992. France mandates the use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland called Romandie, of which Geneva is the largest city. French is the language of about 23% of the Swiss population. French is also a language of Luxembourg, Monaco, and Aosta Valley, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands. A plurality of the worlds French-speaking population lives in Africa and this number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as a foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050, French is the fastest growing language on the continent. French is mostly a language in Africa, but it has become a first language in some urban areas, such as the region of Abidjan, Ivory Coast and in Libreville. There is not a single African French, but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages, sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth
41.
FIFA
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The Fédération Internationale de Football Association is the international governing body of association football, futsal, and beach soccer. FIFA is responsible for the organisation of major international tournaments, notably the World Cup which commenced in 1930. FIFA was founded in 1904 to oversee international competition among the associations of Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden. Headquartered in Zürich, its membership now comprises 211 national associations, although FIFA does not control the rules of football, it is responsible for both the organization of a number of tournaments and their promotion, which generate revenue from sponsorship. In 2013, FIFA had revenues of over 1.3 billion U. S. dollars, for a net profit of 72 million and those among these officials who were also indicted in the U. S. are expected to be extradited to face charges there as well. Many officials were suspended by FIFAs ethics committee including Sepp Blatter, in early 2017 reports became public about FIFA president Gianni Infantino attempting to prevent the re-elections of both chairmen of the ethics committee during the FIFA congress in May 2017. The need for a body to oversee association football became apparent at the beginning of the 20th century with the increasing popularity of international fixtures. The French name and acronym are used even outside French-speaking countries, the founding members were the national associations of Belgium, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Also, that day, the German Association declared its intention of affiliating through a telegram. The first president of FIFA was Robert Guérin, Guérin was replaced in 1906 by Daniel Burley Woolfall from England, by then a member of the association. Membership of FIFA expanded beyond Europe with the application of South Africa in 1909, Argentina in 1912, Canada and Chile in 1913, and the United States in 1914. During World War I, with players sent off to war and the possibility of travel for international fixtures severely limited. Post-war, following the death of Woolfall, the organisation was run by Dutchman Carl Hirschmann and it was saved from extinction, but at the cost of the withdrawal of the Home Nations, who cited an unwillingness to participate in international competitions with their recent World War enemies. The Home Nations later resumed their membership, the FIFA collection is held by the National Football Museum at Urbis in Manchester, England. The first World Cup in the world was in 1930 in Montevideo, FIFA is headquartered in Zürich, and is an association established under the Law of Switzerland. FIFAs supreme body is the FIFA Congress, a made up of representatives from each affiliated member association. Each national football association has one vote, regardless of its size or footballing strength, the Congress assembles in ordinary session once every year, and extraordinary sessions have been held once a year since 1998. The congress makes decisions relating to FIFAs governing statutes and their method of implementation and application, only the Congress can pass changes to FIFAs statutes
42.
Association football
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Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball. It is played by 250 million players in over 200 countries and dependencies making it the worlds most popular sport, the game is played on a rectangular field with a goal at each end. The object of the game is to score by getting the ball into the opposing goal, players are not allowed to touch the ball with their hands or arms while it is in play, unless they are goalkeepers. Other players mainly use their feet to strike or pass the ball, the team that scores the most goals by the end of the match wins. If the score is level at the end of the game, the Laws of the Game were originally codified in England by The Football Association in 1863. Association football is governed internationally by the International Federation of Association Football, the first written reference to the inflated ball used in the game was in the mid-14th century, Þe heued fro þe body went, Als it were a foteballe. The Online Etymology Dictionary states that the word soccer was split off in 1863, according to Partha Mazumdar, the term soccer originated in England, first appearing in the 1880s as an Oxford -er abbreviation of the word association. Within the English-speaking world, association football is now usually called football in the United Kingdom and mainly soccer in Canada and the United States. People in Australia, Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand use either or both terms, although national associations in Australia and New Zealand now primarily use football for the formal name. According to FIFA, the Chinese competitive game cuju is the earliest form of football for which there is scientific evidence, cuju players could use any part of the body apart from hands and the intent was kicking a ball through an opening into a net. It was remarkably similar to football, though similarities to rugby occurred. During the Han Dynasty, cuju games were standardised and rules were established, phaininda and episkyros were Greek ball games. An image of an episkyros player depicted in low relief on a vase at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens appears on the UEFA European Championship Cup, athenaeus, writing in 228 AD, referenced the Roman ball game harpastum. Phaininda, episkyros and harpastum were played involving hands and violence and they all appear to have resembled rugby football, wrestling and volleyball more than what is recognizable as modern football. As with pre-codified mob football, the antecedent of all football codes. Non-competitive games included kemari in Japan, chuk-guk in Korea and woggabaliri in Australia, Association football in itself does not have a classical history. Notwithstanding any similarities to other games played around the world FIFA have recognised that no historical connection exists with any game played in antiquity outside Europe. The modern rules of football are based on the mid-19th century efforts to standardise the widely varying forms of football played in the public schools of England
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Gallic rooster
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The Gallic rooster is an unofficial national symbol of France as a nation, as opposed to Marianne representing France as a State, and its values, the Republic. The rooster is also the symbol of the Wallonia region and the French Community of Belgium, during the times of Ancient Rome, Suetonius, in The Twelve Caesars, noticed that, in Latin, rooster and Gauls were homonyms. But a closer review within that religious scheme indicates that Mercury was often portrayed with the cock, a sacred animal among the Continental Celts. The Irish god Lug identified as samildánach led to the identification of Caesars Mercury as Lugus and thus also to the sacred cock. Its association with France dates back from the Middle Age and is due to the play on words in Latin between Gallus, meaning an inhabitant of Gaul, and gallus, meaning rooster, or cockerel, at the roosters crowing, Peter remembered Jesuss words. Its crowing at the dawning of each new morning made it a symbol of the victory of light over darkness. It is also an emblem of the Christians attitude of watchfulness and readiness for the return of Christ, the resurrection of the dead. That is why, during the Renaissance, the became a symbol of France as a Catholic state and became a popular Christian image on weathervanes. The popularity of the Gallic rooster as a national personification faded away until its resurgence during the French Revolution, the republican historiography completely modified the traditional perception of the origins of France. Until then, the royal historiography dated the origins of France back to the baptism of Clovis I in 496, the republicans rejected this royalist and Christian origin of the country and trace the origins of France back to the ancient Gaul. Although purely apocryphal, the became the personification of the early inhabitants of France. The Gallic rooster, colloquially named Chanteclair, had been a national emblem ever since, the rooster was featured on the reverse of French 20-franc gold pieces from 1899 to 1914. After World War I it was depicted on countless war memorials, today, it is often used as a national mascot, particularly in sporting events such as football and rugby. The 1998 FIFA World Cup, hosted by France, adopted a rooster named Footix as mascot, the France national rugby league team are known as the Chanteclairs referring to the cockerels song. The popularity of the symbol extends into business, le Coq Sportif, is a French manufacturer of sports equipment using a stylized rooster and the colors of the French tricolour as its logo. Moreover, it is the logo of Pathé, a French-born, another heraldic animal officially used by the French nation was the French Imperial Eagle, symbol of the First and Second French Empire under Napoleon I and Napoleon III. In 1913, the Gallic rooster was adopted as the symbol of Walloon movement and it represents a bold rooster, raising its claws, instead of the crowing rooster that is traditionally depicted in France. This symbol, also known as the Walloon rooster, was adopted as the symbol of Wallonia
44.
Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis
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Saint-Denis is a commune in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 9.4 km from the centre of Paris, Saint-Denis is a subprefecture of the department of Seine-Saint-Denis, being the seat of the arrondissement of Saint-Denis. Saint-Denis is home to the necropolis of the Basilica of Saint Denis and was also the location of the associated abbey. It is also home to Frances national football and rugby stadium, Saint-Denis is a formerly industrial suburb currently changing its economic base. Inhabitants of Saint-Denis are called Dionysiens, until the 3rd century, Saint-Denis was a small settlement called Catolacus or Catulliacum, probably meaning estate of Catullius, a Gallo-Roman landowner. About 250 AD, the first bishop of Paris, Saint Denis, was martyred on Montmartre hill, shortly after 250 his grave became a shrine and a pilgrimage centre, with the building of the Abbey of Saint Denis, and the settlement was renamed Saint-Denis. In 1793, during the French Revolution, Saint-Denis was renamed Franciade in a gesture of rejection of religion, in 1803, however, under the Consulate of Napoléon Bonaparte, the city reverted to its former name of Saint-Denis. During its history, Saint-Denis has been associated with the French royal house. Starting from Dagobert I, almost every French king was buried in the Basilica, however, Saint-Denis is older than that. In the 2nd century, there was a Gallo-Roman village named Catolacus on the location that Saint-Denis occupies today, Saint Denis, the first bishop of Paris and patron saint of France, was martyred in about 250 and buried in the cemetery of Catolacus. Denis tomb quickly became a place of worship, around 475, Sainte Geneviève had a small chapel erected on Denis tomb, which by then had become a popular destination for pilgrims. It was this chapel that Dagobert I had rebuilt and turned into a royal monastery, during the Middle Ages, because of the privileges granted by Dagobert, Saint-Denis grew to become very important. Merchants from all over Europe came to visit its market, in 1140, Abbot Suger, counselor to the King, granted further privileges to the citizens of Saint-Denis. He also started the work of enlarging the Basilica of Saint Denis that still exists today, the new church was consecrated in 1144. Saint-Denis suffered heavily in the Hundred Years War, of its 10,000 citizens, during the French Wars of Religion, the Battle of Saint-Denis was fought between Catholics and Protestants on 10 November 1567. The Protestants were defeated, but the Catholic commander Anne de Montmorency was killed, in 1590, the city surrendered to Henry IV, who converted to Catholicism in 1593 in the abbey of Saint-Denis. King Louis XIV started several industries in Saint-Denis, weaving and spinning mills and dyehouses. His successor, Louis XV, whose daughter was a nun in the Carmelite convent, took a lively interest in the city, he added a chapel to the convent and also renovated the buildings of the royal abbey
45.
Raymond Kopa
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Raymond Kopa was a French footballer, integral to the French national team of the 1950s. At club level he was part of the legendary Real Madrid team of the 1950s, often considered one of the leading players of his generation, Kopa was a free-role advanced playmaker who was quick, agile and known for his love of dribbling. He was also a playmaker, as well as a prolific scorer. In 1958, Kopa was awarded the Ballon dOr, in 1970 he became the first football player to receive the Légion dhonneur, and in 2004, Pelé named him one of the 125 Greatest Living Footballers at a FIFA Awards Ceremony. Kopa was born to a family of Polish immigrants and his grandparents were originally from Krakow and migrated to Germany, where his parents were born. They then migrated to France after the First World War and his surname was shortened to Kopa whilst he was at school. At the age of 14 he followed in the footsteps of his grandfather, father and brother by working in the mines of Nœux-les-Mines. During this time Kopa lost a finger in a mining accident, Kopa married Christiane, the sister of a team-mate of his at Angers. After retiring from the game he launched his own sportswear brand, Kopa died in March 2017, aged 85. Kopa had first attracted attention in Spain when he played for France against Spain in a match in Madrid in March 1955, Kopa was transferred to Real Madrid for the 1956/57 season, where he was soon joined by Ferenc Puskás. Playing with the Spanish giants, Kopa won the Spanish league in 1957 and 1958, Kopa was also the first French player to win the European Cup when Madrid defeated Fiorentina 2–0 in the 1957 final. He would go on to be European champion again in 1958 and 1959, the last against former side Stade de Reims, in the 1959–60 season, Kopa returned to France to finish his career with Reims, where he won further Championnats in 1960 and 1962. In total, he scored 75 goals in 346 matches in Frances top flight, with the France national football team, Kopa scored 18 goals in 45 games between 1952 and 1962. The French team finished third in the tournament
46.
Just Fontaine
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Just Justo Fontaine is a retired French footballer. A prolific forward, he is best known for being the holder for most goals scored in a single edition of the FIFA World Cup. In 2004, Pelé named him one of the 125 Greatest Living Footballers at a FIFA Awards Ceremony, born in Marrakech to a French father and a Spanish mother, Fontaine moved to Casablanca, where he attended the Lycée Lyautey. Fontaine began his career at USM Casablanca, where he played from 1950 to 1953. Nice recruited him in 1953, and he went on to score 44 goals in three seasons for the club, in 1956, he moved on to Stade de Reims where he teamed up with Raymond Kopa. Kopa went to Real Madrid in 1958 and Fontaine scored 121 goals in six seasons at the Stade de Reims, in total, Fontaine scored 165 goals in 200 matches in the Ligue 1, and twice won the championship, in 1958 and 1960. He also took part in the team that got to the 1958–59 European Cup final against Real Madrid, wearing the blue shirt of France, Fontaines statistics are even more impressive. On his debut with the team on 17 December 1953, Fontaine scored a hat trick as France defeated Luxembourg 8–0, in seven years, he scored 30 goals in 21 matches for the national team. However, he will best be remembered for his 1958 FIFA World Cup performance and it was also the highest number of goals ever scored by one player at a single World Cup tournament – a record which still stands today. This tally secured him the Golden Boot for that tournament, and as of 2014, he is still the fourth best scorer in FIFA World Cup History, with the three first - Gerd Müller, Ronaldo and Miroslav Klose - having played at least two tournaments. Fontaine played his last match in July 1962, being forced to retire early because of a recurring injury and he briefly managed the French national team in 1967, but was replaced after only two games, both friendlies that ended in defeats. As coach of Morocco, he led the Atlas Lions to 3rd in the 1980 African Cup of Nations, overseeing the emergence of players as Badou Zaki, Mohammed Timoumi. Morocco reached the stage of 1982 World Cup qualifying but were beaten by Cameroon. He was named by Pelé as one of the 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004 and he was chosen as the best French player of the last 50 years by the French Football Federation in the UEFA Jubilee Awards in November 2003. With Eugène NJo Léa he founded the National Union of Professional Football Players in 1961 and he criticized the performance of the French team in 2010 World Cup in South Africa, particularly on the lackluster playing by the forwards. France were eliminated after group stage, with a draw against Uruguay and losses to Mexico, source, Just Fontaine – Goals in International Matches. France score listed first, score column indicates score after each Fontaine goal. com – Frances Golden Player Profile on French federation official site Stats at lequipe. fr
47.
1958 FIFA World Cup
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The 1958 FIFA World Cup, the sixth staging of the World Cup, was hosted by Sweden from 8 to 29 June. The tournament was won by Brazil, who beat Sweden 5–2 in the final for their first title, the tournament is also notable for marking the debut on the world stage of a then largely unknown 17-year-old Pelé. Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and Sweden expressed interest in hosting the tournament, swedish delegates lobbied other countries at the FIFA Congress held in Rio de Janeiro around the opening of the 1950 World Cup finals. Sweden was awarded the 1958 tournament unopposed on 23 June 1950, the hosts and the defending champions qualified automatically. Of the remaining 14 places, nine were allocated to Europe, FIFA had imposed a rule that no team would qualify without playing at least one match, something that had happened in several previous World Cups. Wales won the play-off and qualified, on 8 February 1958, in Solna, Lennart Hyland and Sven Jerring presented the results of the draw where the qualified teams were divided into four groups. It also marked the debuts of the Soviet Union and Northern Ireland, Argentina appeared for the first time since 1934. This would be Paraguays last finals appearance until 1986, Northern Irelands last until 1982 and this FIFA World Cup finals remains the only occasion on which Italy failed to qualify. Other teams that failed to qualify included Uruguay, Spain and Belgium, two points were awarded for a win and one point for a draw. If the first two teams finished on equal points then goal average would decide who was placed first and second, as in 1954, if the second and third placed teams finished on the same points, then there would be a play-off with the winner going through. If a play-off resulted in a draw, goal average from the games would be used to determine who went through to the next round. If the goal averages were equal then lots would have been drawn and these arrangements had not been finalised by the time the tournament started and were still being debated as it progressed. This was the first time that goal average was available to teams in a World Cup. It was used to separate the teams finishing first and second in one of the groups, however all three playoffs finished with decisive results and so it was not needed to separate the teams involved in a tied playoff. Almost all the matches kicked off simultaneously in each of the three rounds of the phase, as did the quarter-finals and semi-finals. The exceptions were Swedens three group matches, all of which were televised by Sveriges Radio, these started at other times so Swedes could attend other matches without missing their own teams. Apart from these, one match per round was televised, many Swedes bought their first television for the World Cup. The official ball was the Top-Star VMbollen 1958 model made by Sydsvenska Läder & Remfabriks AB in Ängelholm and it was chosen from 102 candidates in a blind test by four FIFA officials
48.
Ballon d'Or
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The Ballon dOr, is an annual association football award presented by France Football. Conceived by sports writer Gabriel Hanot, the Ballon dOr award honours the player deemed to have performed the best over the previous year. Originally, only European players were in contention for the Ballon dOr, in 1995 the award was expanded to all players at European clubs. Stanley Matthews of Blackpool was the winner of the Ballon dOr. Prior to 1995, the award was known in English language media as the European Footballer of the Year award. Milans George Weah, the only African recipient, became the first non-European to win the award in the year the rules of eligibility were changed, ronaldo of Internazionale became the first South American winner two years later. Three players have won the three times each, Johan Cruyff of Ajax and Barcelona, Michel Platini of Juventus and Marco van Basten of Milan. With seven awards each, Dutch and German players won the most Ballons dOr, spanish club Barcelona had the most winners. After 2011, UEFA created the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award to maintain the format of the original Ballon dOr, one-time winners are only included if they have also finished 2nd or 3rd in another year. A special Ban dOr, under the name Super Ballon dOr, was awarded to Alfredo Di Stéfano in 1989, after he surpassed Johan Cruyff, a decade later, France Football elected Pelé the Football Player of the Century after consulting their former Ballon dOr recipients. Among the 34 previous winners,30 cast their votes, Stanley Matthews, Omar Sívori and George Best abstained, and Lev Yashin had died. Each voter was allotted five votes worth up to five points, however, Di Stéfano only chose a first place, Platini a first and second place, and George Weah two players for fifth place. Pelé was named the greatest by 17 voters, receiving almost double the number of points earned by the runner-up, the original recipients, however, remain unchanged. Maradona and Pelé received honorary Ballons dOr for their services to football in 1996 and 2013, FIFA World Player of the Year FIFA Ballon dOr The Best FIFA Football Awards FIFPro World XI European Footballer of the Year. La liste complête des lauréats du Ballon dor, de 1956 à nos jours
49.
Michel Platini
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Michel François Platini is a French former football player, manager and administrator. Nicknamed Le Roi for his ability and leadership, he is regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Platini won the Ballon dOr three times, in 1983,1984 and 1985, and came sixth in the FIFA Player of the Century vote. In recognition of his achievements, he was named Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in 1985, during his career, Platini played for the clubs Nancy, Saint-Étienne, and Juventus. Together with the midfielders Alain Giresse, Luis Fernández and Jean Tigana, Platini was his countrys record goalscorer until 2007, and holds the record for most goals scored in the European Championship despite only appearing in the victorious 1984 edition. Following his retirement as a player, Platini was the French national team coach for four years, from 2007, he served as the president of the Union of European Football Associations. He also held the positions of chairman of FIFAs Technical and Development Committee, in 2015, however, he was banned from football administration for conflict of interest by the FIFA Ethics Committee. Born in Jœuf, in the Lorraine region, Platini is the son of Aldo and Anna, Aldo was a professional footballer and a long-time director for AS Nancy, the club where Michel started his professional career. Platini was called up for a trial with Metz, but missed out on the opportunity due to injury and he returned to regional league football with Jœuf. Another trial at Metz went horribly wrong when a breathing test on a spirometer caused Platini to faint, the doctors verdict on Platinis breathing difficulties and weak heart ended any hopes Platini had of playing for his boyhood favorites. He then joined the side of his fathers club Nancy in September 1972. Platini was quick to make a big impression at his new club, further outstanding displays put him in contention for a place in the Nancy first team. His introduction to the squad was inauspicious. On the substitutes bench for a match against Valenciennes, Platini was spat on, playing for the reserves a few days later, a hefty challenge from an opponent left Platini with a bad ankle injury. His season would finish on a positive note, and he would go on to make his league debut against Nîmes on 3 May 1973. In March 1974, he suffered a setback when he sustained a fracture of his left arm in a match at OGC Nice. Platini missed the remainder of the season as a result, unable to assist Nancy in a bid to avoid relegation from Ligue 1. The following season saw Nancy win promotion back to the French first division with ease, Platini became the teams most important player, scoring 17 goals, a number of which were scored from free-kicks, as was becoming Platinis specialty. Saint-Étienne, the then reigning French league champions, were knocked out of the French Cup with two goals from Platini free-kicks, Platini practised his free-kicks with the help of his friend, goalkeeper Moutier, and using a row of dummies to form a defensive wall of sorts
1 (16 October 2017)
2 (11 October 2017)
Belgium 3–3 France 
Denmark 17–1 France 
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England, 13 June 2017
Bulgaria, 7 October 2017 INJ
Luxembourg, 3 September 2017
Sevilla
Ivory Coast, 15 November 2016
Sweden
58'
Paraguay
47'
Netherlands
Belarus
Wales
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1990 Kuwait Tournament
1998 King Hassan II International Cup Tournament
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Kovács, IstvánIstván Kovács
